"I feel I'm incredibly fascinating and this blog bears witness to that simple fact. Friends, from far and wide, are often pestered to keep abreast of my life and opinions. I offer my most sincere greetings to random visitors as well."
- 49 12.284N 122 54.408W
- New Westminster,
- British Columbia, CANADA
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Saturday, January 21, 2006
What Happens In Whalley ...
Okay, it's not exactly Vegas.Every so often, we do go to Hara's Buffet for lunch. It's located near the Silvercity Threatres and the Wal-mart in the Whalley neighbourhood of Surrey, BC. They offer Western, Chinese, and Indian foods. I will always celebrate all-you-can-eat dining. We grabbed lunch there yesterday.
The restaurant doesn't seem to have a web site. After mentioning Hara's in the past, I've seen visitors arrive at my eJournal and images because they were searching for details. Here are some:
Hara's Buffet
100-15155 101st Ave,
Surrey, BC V3R 7Z1 tel (604) 589-1929.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Celebrating Banality
I used to take far too many pretty photos. You know that I mean; I'd shoot a lovely sunset or unspoilt view of nature. It was either that or I'd often succumb to touristy images. Those included shots of people in front of famous landmarks.
Now, I'm successfully embracing the world of banal photography. I want photos which are of life's minutiae. In order to understand one's present existence at a later point in time, one needs to capture the ordinary.
Imagines of us standing in front of the Eiffel Tower will always be valuable. Yet, I wish I had pictures of the various streets we've lived on. Rather than a sunset, I'd prefer shots of the kitchens in our previous apartments.
Now with digital, there's no reason not to click the shutter often. For example, there's nothing special about yesterday's picture of Columbia Street taken from in front of the SkyTrain Station entrance. In the future though, things may change and the mind's eye will never be as accurate and thorough as an 8 megapixel Olympus.
Now, I'm successfully embracing the world of banal photography. I want photos which are of life's minutiae. In order to understand one's present existence at a later point in time, one needs to capture the ordinary.
Imagines of us standing in front of the Eiffel Tower will always be valuable. Yet, I wish I had pictures of the various streets we've lived on. Rather than a sunset, I'd prefer shots of the kitchens in our previous apartments.
Now with digital, there's no reason not to click the shutter often. For example, there's nothing special about yesterday's picture of Columbia Street taken from in front of the SkyTrain Station entrance. In the future though, things may change and the mind's eye will never be as accurate and thorough as an 8 megapixel Olympus.
Labels: camera, New Westminster
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Keeping the Quest in Questions
What the automobile did for our physical reach, the Internet has done for our mental reach.
It has all happened so quickly. I won't spend lots of time talking of its effect on teaching and learning. It wasn't very long ago, however, that a poor ESL student would have to rely on purchased materials to gain additional reading fluency.
More profoundly, on a personal level, I remember when I could think of questions which I couldn't answer. Suppose twelve years ago I wondered whether Venezuela or Columbia had a larger population. If the local libraries weren't open, there was no way of finding out. Knowledge was not accessible. This inability to find out anything at anytime, was universal. People who have grown up with the Net cannot even imagine what it's like to be left in the dark.
Now information is plentiful and easy to find. I just hope that people are still asking interesting questions.
It has all happened so quickly. I won't spend lots of time talking of its effect on teaching and learning. It wasn't very long ago, however, that a poor ESL student would have to rely on purchased materials to gain additional reading fluency.More profoundly, on a personal level, I remember when I could think of questions which I couldn't answer. Suppose twelve years ago I wondered whether Venezuela or Columbia had a larger population. If the local libraries weren't open, there was no way of finding out. Knowledge was not accessible. This inability to find out anything at anytime, was universal. People who have grown up with the Net cannot even imagine what it's like to be left in the dark.
Now information is plentiful and easy to find. I just hope that people are still asking interesting questions.
Labels: Internet
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Call Me, Gestalt!
I was helping to organize papers during a placement exam at BCIT last night. It was one of those civil-service tasks of matching names on a list to numbers on the papers. I really struggled. I've always known this sort of work isn't my forte. The speed by which my colleagues accomplished the task, however, drove the point home. I'm assuredly a big-picture type of guy. I've taken enough pop psychology tests to know that I work better dealing with tasks involving synthesis. Speaking of pop tests, I've devised a new question to help me with personality assessment. Unfortunately it does require an interest in photography. If I know you, email me your response so I can check the validity of my new theory.
If you were given the choice between a macro lens that allowed you to take close-ups or a wide-angle which offered excellent panoramas, which would you pick?
Labels: BCIT
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
We Were the Champions
I had returned all the DVDs to www.zip last week. I knew that as long as the postman was not ill, there'd be a number of new ones waiting for me when I got back from work yesterday. In fact there were four discs. One, rather than being a movie, was a title called, Queen: We Will Rock You.
The blurb on the website had said it included the definitive version of the rock group's songs. I discovered this meant it was a live Montreal concert from 1982. It makes for a very interesting collection, if not exactly my choice as I generally prefer studio versions. Still, Queen never sounded so good. The Dolby 5.1 would have sufficed but I chose the DTS track as the volume seemed more balanced to the rear speakers. In a concert version, that is generally where the crowd noises come from though. I really cranked the sound up. Being only a bit after dinner time, neighbours couldn't really complain. It felt a vaguely satisfying being a bit obnoxious, just like most kids.
This disc contained noise which was a great deal of the soundtrack to college for me. I really can't remember what sound equipment I would've had in my dorm rooms. Perhaps a boom box? Maybe, and Freddie never learned what an mp3 players was either. I suppose there were probably several Queen 8-track tapes in my Pinto. Anyway, I probably listened to the We Will Rock You track most in the college pub. There were big speakers there. As I listened last night, I could almost smell the stale beer from back in an era, when kids could buy at age 18.
In actuality yesterday evening, I was drinking Rooibos tea while watching. Nobody needs caffeine after seven o'clock in the evening, right? Who would have guessed such things a quarter centry earlier. Who would have known that I could mature so perfectly?
The blurb on the website had said it included the definitive version of the rock group's songs. I discovered this meant it was a live Montreal concert from 1982. It makes for a very interesting collection, if not exactly my choice as I generally prefer studio versions. Still, Queen never sounded so good. The Dolby 5.1 would have sufficed but I chose the DTS track as the volume seemed more balanced to the rear speakers. In a concert version, that is generally where the crowd noises come from though. I really cranked the sound up. Being only a bit after dinner time, neighbours couldn't really complain. It felt a vaguely satisfying being a bit obnoxious, just like most kids.
This disc contained noise which was a great deal of the soundtrack to college for me. I really can't remember what sound equipment I would've had in my dorm rooms. Perhaps a boom box? Maybe, and Freddie never learned what an mp3 players was either. I suppose there were probably several Queen 8-track tapes in my Pinto. Anyway, I probably listened to the We Will Rock You track most in the college pub. There were big speakers there. As I listened last night, I could almost smell the stale beer from back in an era, when kids could buy at age 18.
In actuality yesterday evening, I was drinking Rooibos tea while watching. Nobody needs caffeine after seven o'clock in the evening, right? Who would have guessed such things a quarter centry earlier. Who would have known that I could mature so perfectly?
Monday, January 16, 2006
Thinking Inside the Box
A bit to my right, there's a whole shelf of souvenirs that we've collected during world travels. I thought it'd be clever to begin to document them here. We've known friends who've lost items to fire or theft. Even if something were to damage these items, we'd be able to see the photo and remember the situation by which they came to be with us.
This 9 x 6 1/2 x 3 mm box is made from marble. The stone inside of the box has been hollowed out by hand. The inlay design of this particular box is rather simple but was made using the same techniques as during the construction of the Taj Mahal. This item successfully made a number of moves but one corner of the cover was damaged during shipping to Canada.
We picked this up on an independent, summer tour of India during 1994. We chose fairly small souvenirs because we always travel lightly.
This 9 x 6 1/2 x 3 mm box is made from marble. The stone inside of the box has been hollowed out by hand. The inlay design of this particular box is rather simple but was made using the same techniques as during the construction of the Taj Mahal. This item successfully made a number of moves but one corner of the cover was damaged during shipping to Canada.
We picked this up on an independent, summer tour of India during 1994. We chose fairly small souvenirs because we always travel lightly.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
EXIF to the Rescue
A modern digital camera ensures that every picture contains some hidden data. It contains information in a format known as an Exchangeable Image File. This includes all sorts of useful bits such as camera type, aperture size and shutter speed. In the future, it'll most likely contain GPS data to make identifying outdoor locations a snap. More importantly for historians, as long as the device's time is set correctly, there's a date and time stamp too!
I have managed to begin scanning old photos so they can be stored online at A Box in the Attic on my Flickr account. The unfortunate thing is almost none of these pictures have date information. It's no problem if it's from a specific vacation, as I can check my records for the month and year. I've discovered that most can be problematic though.
Until my job here, I had taught in Dubai the longest. I arrived in the UAE in August 1991 and left in June 1996. My photos, during these years, were never organized. None have a printing date or handwritten information on the reverse side. The scan above is a good example. I know it was a party with college staff but I haven't a clue as to the exact year!
I have managed to begin scanning old photos so they can be stored online at A Box in the Attic on my Flickr account. The unfortunate thing is almost none of these pictures have date information. It's no problem if it's from a specific vacation, as I can check my records for the month and year. I've discovered that most can be problematic though.
Until my job here, I had taught in Dubai the longest. I arrived in the UAE in August 1991 and left in June 1996. My photos, during these years, were never organized. None have a printing date or handwritten information on the reverse side. The scan above is a good example. I know it was a party with college staff but I haven't a clue as to the exact year!
Locate additional information at the my eJournal and images blog site.